Volleyball Heads To Wright State Before Hosting Loyola, UIC

The Opening Serve: Butler enters its busiest
stretch of the Horizon League campaign this week when plays in
three matches in a five-day span. The Bulldogs open up the swing in
Dayton, Ohio, with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Wright State on Wednesday
(Oct. 8). Butler then returns to Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday
(Oct. 11) when it takes on Loyola at 2:00 p.m. before hosting UIC
the following afternoon (Oct. 12) at 2:00 p.m.

Butler Volleyball On HLN: All of Butler's home
volleyball matches can be viewed live online for free through the
Horizon League Network, with Cory Stark providing play-by-play for
the Bulldogs this season. The games can be viewed by clicking on
the "Watch on HLN" link next to the match on the volleyball
schedule at www.ButlerSports.com.

Dig Pink: October is National Breast Cancer
Awareness Month, and the Butler volleyball team will be promoting
awareness by wearing pink warm-ups prior to all of their October
home matches. The Bulldogs will also hold a Breast Cancer Awareness
Day at their Oct. 12 match against UIC. Butler Athletics and the
Panhellenic Council will sell pink Butler Volleyball t-shirts, with
all proceeds benefiting the Side-Out Foundation. T-shirts can also
be pre-ordered at this weekend's matches against YSU and CSU and
will be available at Atherton Union from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. this
week.

A Great Start: The Bulldogs are off to one of
the best starts in program history. Butler's 14-3 record is the
program's best mark through 17 matches since the 1997 squad opened
up at 15-2. The mark is also tied with the 1988 team for the
second-best 17-match record in program history.

The View From The Top: With a 4-1 record in
Horizon League play, the Bulldogs enter the week alone on the top
of the league standings. Loyola (3-1) and Milwaukee (3-1) are the
only two other schools in the conference with fewer than two losses
in the league season.

A Look At This Week's Opponents: Butler will
square off with a trio of long-time foes this week, as Loyola (52
meetings all-time), Wright State (42) and UIC (38) have met the
Bulldogs in volleyball more times than any other opponent in school
history. Wright State enters a Tuesday (Oct. 7) contest against
Valparaiso with a 6-11 overall record and a 4-2 mark in conference
play after picking up a 3-1 win at UIC on Saturday (Oct. 4). Loyola
carries a 13-3 overall mark and a 3-1 league record into a
two-match road swing through Green Bay and Milwaukee on Monday and
Tuesday before heading to Indianapolis on Saturday. UIC, meanwhile,
is 6-10 on the year and 1-4 in conference after picking up a
non-conference win against Quinnipiac on Sunday (Oct. 5) and will
face Milwaukee and Valparaiso before finishing the week at Hinkle
Fieldhouse.

Last Week's Results:Butler 3, Youngstown State 2 - Friday, Oct. 3 - Indianapolis,
Ind.
Butler knocked down a season-high 73 kills, including 18 each from
Porshia
Allen, Kelsey Labrum and
Jessica
Wolfe, as the Bulldogs overcame a 2-1 deficit to come away with
a 25-20, 24-26, 24-26, 25-16, 15-8 victory over visiting Youngstown
State on Oct. 3. Butler clicked on all cylinders on both offense
and defense, notching season-highs with 73 kills and 101 digs. The
Bulldogs also finished with 10.5 blocks in the match, the ninth
time they have finished in double-figures and the ninth-straight
contest with at least nine. Allen and Wolfe both notched
double-doubles, setter Dana Daprile came a
dig and a kill shy of a triple-double with a season-best 57 assists
and Katie
Daprile totaled a career-high 31 digs.

Butler 3, Cleveland State 0 - Saturday, Oct. 4 -
Indianapolis, Ind.Jessica
Wolfe notched a team-high 14 kills and Kelsey Labrum added
10 as Butler rallied from significant late deficits in the final
two sets against Cleveland State to claim a 25-23, 25-22, 25-23
sweep of the Vikings on Oct. 4 afternoon. Wolfe finished just one
dig shy of her seventh double-double of the year, totaling a
match-high 14 kills and adding nine digs. Labrum finished with a
team-best .421 (10-2-19) hitting percentage in the match, while Maureen
Bamiro notched a career-best eight kills and added five blocks.
Dana Daprile
dished 33 assists while Katie Daprile once
again led the squad on defense with 16 digs.

A Blocking Trend: The Butler blocking corps has
shined in the early going, as the Bulldogs have notched
double-figure blocking totals in nine of 15 matches this year,
including a season-high 14 against Maryland-Eastern Shore.

...And A Blocking Advantage: Butler's blocking
stats are even more impressive when comparing them to their
opponents' totals. The Bulldogs' 159.5 blocks this season are
nearly 70 percent more than the amount registered by their
opponents (94.0). The start of league play hasn't changed the
team's dominance, as Butler holds a 48 to 36 edge on blocking
against conference foes.

Butler In The League Rankings: Butler finds
itself ranked among the Horizon League's best in several
statistical categories. The Bulldogs lead the league with 2.45
blocks per set and are second with a .221 hitting percentage, a
.146 opponent hitting percentage and 12.92 kills per set. Butler
also finds itself in third with 15.78 digs per set and fourth with
11.63 assists per set.

A Wolfe Among Bulldogs: Sophomore outside
hitter Jessica
Wolfe has been the Bulldogs' leading offensive threat this
season. Her 3.42 kills per set pace the team and are the third-most
among all Horizon League players.

Block Party: It should come as no surprise that
the Bulldogs lead the league in blocks because they have some of
the best middle blockers in the conference. In fact, three of the
top 10 blockers in the league play for Butler, with Jalesa Lee pacing the
league with 1.16 blocks per set, Porshia Allen in
sixth with 1.00 per set and Maureen Bamiro in
seventh with 0.98 per set.

More From Sophomores: Butler has gotten quite a
bit of production from sophomores Jessica Wolfe and
Kelsey
Labrum, with Wolfe ranking third in the Horizon League with
3.81 points per set and Labrum in eighth with 3.45 points per set.
In fact, the two Bulldogs are the only two players on the top-10
list who have not yet reached their junior season.

Offensive-Minded Setter:Dana Daprile has
quite a knack for helping her teammates register kills, as the
senior setter ranks third in the Horizon League with 8.61 assists
per set. But she isn't afraid to take matters into her own hands
either, and has had a lot of success as well. Daprile currently
ranks fifth in the conference with a .278 hitting percentage
(98-31-241).

Double-Trouble: Four Butler players have
registered double-doubles on the year. Junior Porshia Allen and
sophomore Jessica Wolfe have
each notched six double-doubles with kills and digs, while
sophomore Kelsey Labrum has
added two. Senior Dana Daprile,
meanwhile, boasts one with assists and digs.

All Good Streaks Must Come To An End: Butler's
nine-match winning streak came to an end when IUPUI handed the
Bulldogs a 3-2 defeat on Sept. 16. The streak was the program's
longest since the 1997 season when the Bulldogs opened the year
with 11 wins in a row. The 1986 squad set the school record with 15
straight victories.

Anatomy Of A Winning Streak: It should come as
no surprise that Butler's nine-match winning streak featured some
impressive statistics. During the trek, the Bulldogs fell in only
six of 33 sets while delivering sweeps in four contests.
Additionally, Butler held a commanding edge in both offense and
defense, out-hitting its opponents .256 to .122 and registering
2.80 blocks per set to its foes' 1.15 per set. The Bulldogs also
picked up tournament championships in both the Kennesaw State Owls
Challenge and in the Buffalo Ramada Invitational.

Next Up: Butler has one of its slowest weeks of
the year next weekend when it heads to Valparaiso on Friday (Oct.
17) for a 8:00 p.m. ET match against the Crusaders.